Kansas CWF 2017

Following a great breakfast, as well as saying goodbye to the friends we created throughout the week from other delegations, we departed from the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. From there, we traveled an hour and a half to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where a tour guide hopped on the coach and showed us around the battlefields while educating us about the battle that took place there 154 years prior. Upon completion of our tour, we split up into groups and had the opportunity to grab lunch and explore the town. A few hours later, we loaded the coach and headed for Somerset, Pennsylvania. There we ate dinner then checked into the hotel where we played cards and went swimming. Soon after, we hit the hay as a long day of traveling was ahead of us.   Blogger: Megan Newlon Photographer: Emily Glenn

As we rose bright and early on this rather warm morning, we set out to the U.S. Capital. When we arrived at the Capital we got the opportunity to do an audio tour of the Rotunda and the National Statuary Hall. In Statuary Hall we saw the two statues representing Kansas. The two people representing were Dwight D. Eisenhower and John James Ingalls.  After our tour we met and talked with Representative Yoder and then divided into our districts. We had three districts represented. District One met with Rodger Marshall, District Two met with Lynn Jenkins, and finally District Four met with Ron Estes.  District One: First, they met with Representative Marshall. After they had discussion for a while, he then took them to the balcony of the House of Representatives. While watching they were inducting a new Congressman into office. They all got to witness Paul Ryan speak. Later, they moved on to meet Pat Roberts. Unfortunately, when they went to meet Senator Jerry Moran he was unavailabl

After breakfast we began the day by breaking into our districts and finishing our action plans. After finishing the plans we took a trip to the National Cathedral. There we saw the only president to be buried in D.C., President Wilson. In the Cathedral, there are over 200 stain glass windows, one of which had a four leaf clover and another had life size pane of Jesus. We also learned that it is the sixth largest cathedral in the in the world and the second largest in the U.S. After touring the cathedral, we returned back to The National 4-H Center and ate lunch. Following lunch we had the Congressional Session. In the session four bills were presented to the delegates to vote on. Of the four bills, the two that passed were about Cyberbullying and Young Farmers Incentives and the two that failed were about Congressional Term Limits and Media Conglomerates. For each bill there was a sponsor who would answer clarifying statements or questions asked by individuals. Following the question

Scenes from the Kansas 4-H CWF Capitol Hill visits. Photographer: Scott Fisher

This morning we left bright and early and were off to visit the FDR and Thomas Jefferson memorials before we toured Arlington National Cemetery. FDR's memorial features four rooms that represent each of his four terms in office. Some favorite parts were the quotes from each of the rooms and some of the statues representing scenes from the Great Depression such as a bread line and a fireside chat. We had very little time at the Thomas Jefferson memorial and will be going back there  tomorrow  night so that we are able to have some more time to wander around and observe.  From there we went to Arlington where we visited JFK's burial site, saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, and watched the changing of the guard ceremony. We were all impressed with the precision of the ceremony, the sheer number and organization of the graves, and the different memorials.  After we got back the center and had lunch we broke into our committees and worked on our designated tasks. From the

Monday  Blog Post -  Today was an amazing day, filled with just about everything. We started the day out right with breakfast from the Clover Café, then headed to the bus. En route to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington, Xavier paired us in groups to play games.  The first was a Riff off where we had different song categories, and had to think of as many songs as possible. Then, when our group was called, everyone had to sing one of the songs. Then we worked on our Citizenship page in our CWF workbooks. This included listing qualities and responsibilities of citizens and leaders alike. There each group was given a scenario to discuss. When we made it to Mt. Vernon we walked around the gardens and visited the sixteen sided barn. We then had a walk through of the house, in which we got to take pictures, as part of a new experiment they're trying. We were able to touch a handrail that was original to the house when it was built by George Washington's father